![]() And when a character says he would like to write the name of his beloved in fireworks, sure enough, that name materializes before us in multicolored lights.Ī Story of America, Set to Ragtime, by Neil Gabler Selznick-like producer, "Ragtime" not only comments on this infatuation with the idea of progress it also glories in it, giving off the equivalent of a self-delightedĬhuckle any time it sends a plane, train or automobile onto the stage. Overseen with a close attention to detail by Garth Drabinsky, its David O. Industry and the attendant social consequences. Doctorow's landmark novel, a sleek, seductive narrative that mixed real-life historical figures with fictional characters to paint a canvas of a country dizzy from innovations in transportation and On one level, this isn't inappropriate to Mr. The result itself is less a celebration of theater per se than of theatrical technology and its smooth manipulation. The beginning of this century from the perspective of its end, it often has the feeling of an instructional diorama in a pavilion at a world's fair.Īnd just as the handsome new building that houses "Ragtime" is a refabrication of two theaters from the era in which the show is set, the Lyric and the Apollo, the musical is a carefully constructed pastiche of period charm and contemporary But there is finallyĬonceived to inaugurate the Ford Center by Livent Inc., the Canadian production company that brought "Show Boat" back to Broadway several years ago, the production has a correspondingly commemorative quality. There is much to admire in "Ragtime," from its images of hand-tinted daguerreotypes brought to exquisite life to the electric presence of its leading man, Brian Stokes Mitchell, as the black revolutionary Coalhouse Walker. " Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc.," sung by Peter Friedman as Tateh." Henry Ford," sung by Larry Daggett as Henry Ford." Gettin' Ready Rag," sung by Brian Stokes Mitchell as Coalhouse Walker Jr." The Crime of the Century," sung by Lynnette Perry as Evelyn Nesbit.Hear It: RealAudio from 'Ragtime: The Musical'Įach excerpt lasts 30 seconds | Get RealAudio But face to face, you discover there's just no chemistry. The adjectives from the glamorous self-description. Doctorow's 1975 novel about turn-of-the-century growing pains is like meeting someone on the basis of a promising lonely-hearts ad. Sitting through this heavily publicized adaptation of E.L. Opened last night at the new Ford Center for the Performing Arts, feel so utterly resistible? Then why does this $10 million show, which The people of New Rochelle, NY, in "Ragtime: The Musical" (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)īlessed with beauty, ambition, a smashing wardrobe and a social conscience, "Ragtime" would seem to be the kind of musical that brings Broadway audiences to their knees in adoration. The New York Times Review of 'Ragtime: The Musical' By BEN BRANTLEY ![]() Janu`Ragtime' Beckons to Nostalgia of Another Century's Turn ![]()
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